Diary for ScouseLeeM on Tour


Yosemite/San Fransisco

2017-10-27 to 2017-10-29

2 'mini' bucket list items for the price of one..when I kicked off my list 20 years ago, I grouped together a bunch of US west coast activities as 1 intended bucket list trip.

That never quite happened, as I've covered a lot of those things on individual visits. 20 years on, I can 'almost' tick that big item off - just one little jaunt to the Volcano national park in Hawaii left, to finally complete my 47th of 50.

Having been 'forced' into yet another, 30-something'th weekend in Vegas, I tried to make use of my remaining holidays and maximize my time in the States. So the perfect opportunity to cover a few more national parks in Yosemite and Death Valley.

With a brief stop back in San Francisco -  it was a very early morning start with a cheese omlette the size of my head in a 24 hour diner, before setting off. Starting in Tuolomne Grove, the home of the giant Sequoia trees, we were unleashed and free to wander, having been warned by our guide that the walk back was the equivalent of walking up 40 flights of stairs. He must have been talking about a dolls house or have very short legs, as this is a pretty gentle stroll up a very slight incline, so I would certainly pay no heed to any such warnings. My travel buddy for this walk, Cynthia, even managed it in a pair of flimsy flip flops, and despite her protestations she does no excercise whatsover.

The trees certainly live up to their billing, when they say giant this is no exaggeration. The photo highlight in this Grove is the 'tunnel tree', and pretty much does what it says on the tin - a tree with a big tunnel carved into the roots that you could drive a car through. There is not much left of this tree, only a stump. Still, a stump of enormous proportions...no bear sightings here, but several noisy squirrels, and a rare sighting of a (fast moving) bobcat scurrying across the path right in front of us.

Following this, a full day in and around Yosemite Valley - stopping at various iconic sights including Half Dome and El Capitan, the rock climbers mecca. Indeed, a number of nutters were climbing while we were there. Barely perceivable to the naked eye, and only a third of a way up the rock, only by using 120 x zoom on a camera could you really make out they were humans - that gives an idea just how high this bloody thing is. Yellowstone was cool, but I'd have to say, for me, Yosemite was a little more 'oooooooh' to look at, a very worthwhile stop.